


Big Sky Country

by Letterblade



Series: Too Much Love, Too Much Life [1]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Subtext, Background Polyamory, Gen, Party Feels, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 19:42:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3301259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Letterblade/pseuds/Letterblade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months after the fall of Oval Tower, Aoba, his boyfriends, and his brother have embarked on a search for Aoba's parents. But when their trail leads to the wide wilderness of the American west, they realize that there are no trains, none of them can drive, most of their English sucks, and they need their party adult back. Mink didn't exactly part with them on the best of terms, but if they need a place to stay, he isn't going to turn them away, not after all they've been through together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Big Sky Country

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in the denouement period of a harem/polyblob-and-Sei-lives-and-Ren-gets-his-own-body alternate continuity that Mllelaurel and I have put way too much thought into. More continuity information in the series notes.

The cabin has never been this full.

Noiz, in shirtsleeves with his tie flapping to one side, sprawled on his back right in the middle of the living room, taking in the screens of a few hovering rabbit cubes and muttering about shit reception. Ren and Koujaku flopped on the couch arguing half-heartedly over who got to share a bed with Aoba, with Sei half-asleep on Koujaku's shoulder, wrapped up in one of the cabin's old wool blankets. Beni and Huracan rolling by in a puff of feathers as Beni squawks in outrage.

"Behave, bird," Mink mutters offhand, and hears only a long-suffering mechanical sigh from Huracan in answer. He's barely stood still since they got here. Pulling out blankets, shaking the dust out of the spare rooms. Inventorying food; tomorrow morning, he thinks, he'll have to go out and find a deer. And hope all the city kids can deal with the butchering. One thing after another.

The chatter rolls out from the living room as Mink empties out the blanket chest in his own room. Jarring, this much Japanese in the house. People from halfway around the world, no reason to be here, an invasion of old friends with all reason to leave him behind. Something in him aches; something else in him warms; and he ignores them both. Wonders where the last two have gotten to. Aoba's been ghosting about the edges of rooms, taking in details, ornaments, altars, never quite touching anything, with his eyes very far away. Like he's trying to read Mink's secrets in things. And Clear--

Mink nearly bumps into Aoba as he marches out of his bedroom with a stack of blankets, catches himself, and Aoba yelps and looks up at him. No fear, only curiosity, even as he looks sheepish.

"Ah, sorry--"

"Hn." Mink leaves the door open. Let him explore if he likes; there's nothing he has any business hiding from him, after all. "You seen Clear?"

"No...?" Aoba turns, follows Mink's strides as he heads to the other bedrooms. "He's not with the rest?"

"No. Well. There's little trouble he can get into out here."

"Mm." Aoba catches the chatter from the living room, slaps a hand over his eyes. "Jeez, they're arguing over me again aren't they--" He raises his voice. "I'll sleep with both of you, seriously! We can shove beds together or something. Uh. If we can." He blinks over at Mink. "Can we?"

Mink shrugs. To be expected, he supposes, now that Aoba's gone and taken up with all of them. Heart too big to leave anyone out. "Thought you might."

Aoba reddens, grumbles something under his breath, and heads off to defuse the argument. At least one of them. Beni's outraged squawks of _manlier than any bird has a right to be goddamnit_ probably won't stop.

The front door burst open to Clear, white coat flapping, his clear plastic umbrella clutched very tight in both hands, excited awe writ large over his face. "Aoba-san--everyone--you should come see!"

Cold night wind follows him in. The room stirs, Noiz grumbles, Ren jolts with excitement. Clear trots in, brushing past Mink to catch Aoba's hand. "Aoba-san, if you please! It's beautiful!"

It's _Clear_. He can get the lot of them rallied with surprising speed. Even Sei, sleepy-eyed and clutching the back of Koujaku's kimono as he mutters. Mink finds himself flattened against the wall as they all roll out with Clear yelping in the lead. Sighs, pockets keys, and pads out after them, barefoot in the thin cold grass, and shuts the door against the draft.

"Follow me for just a bit, please," Clear calls. "There's a spot between the trees where we can see better!"

Mink follows in the far rear, resigned to keeping an eye on them and making sure they don't chill. Clear's heading up the slope, a quick walk right for the clearing started by a rotting-down giant and widened by the trees Mink felled for the cabin, years ago. Some of them grumble that they can't see, latch onto Clear and Ren for guidance. Sei yawns loudly, stumbles, and Koujaku turns to pick him up and cradle him to his chest, smooth as anything.

The little band comes out into the open, and Mink nearly runs into Aoba again, this time because he's rooted to the spot.

"Whoooaaaaaaa..."

Right. City kids.

It's not even the best night for it, really. Cloudless, as usual, but the moon's still up, and their eyes aren't adjusted from the fireplace and oil lamps inside, but still, this is big sky country. He thinks back to the dull brown sky over the Old Resident district, or the fake planetarium roof of Platinum Jail, and the corners of his mouth twitch down.

The Milky Way's showing bright, at least, even with the moon up, and the stars are a sea none of them could have ever seen.

Aoba sits, rather suddenly. Sits and flops right back and shields his eyes from the cabin lights flicking between the trees and _grins_. "Is that...that doesn't even look _real_!"

"This is how the sky has always been," Mink says quietly, and when Koujaku gently settles Sei down and scoots up next to Aoba, he resigns himself to going back inside for blankets.

"This is incredible," Koujaku's murmuring. "Truly romantic~"

" _Oi_ ," Aoba says, weakly.

Even Noiz lets out a huff and settles, abstracted. "Huh."

Aoba's arm snakes out to catch his and draw him closer as Mink leaves them behind to duck back into the cabin. He scoops up a double armful of old wool, triangles and fringe dangling. Comes back up and drops a blanket onto Aoba's chest, a second on Koujaku, tosses one to Noiz.

"Don't get carried away. It's cold."

Clear holds up his umbrella and spins slowly, smiling wide. "Aoba-san, remember the second time we met, when you asked me why I carried this?"

"Yeah," Aoba manages. His voice is almost shaky; it's awe, Mink is sure, awe, and for a moment he can't take his eyes off him, can't help but watch his face light up. "Yeah, I--uh, kinda thought you were nuts, sorry."

"That's okay! I have very good eyes. I could see this every night, even through all the lights. And I would lie flat on the roof and think it was all going to come at me, it was so big and bright."

A memory runs through Mink like a knife--dragging himself up to the roof when he was little, his parents chattering beneath like they were pretending they didn't know where he was, he'd just heard a story about falling stars and the sky that night was so bright he thought he'd fall up himself and swim in it--and he breathes like he's been stabbed, and it fades, and the stars stay right where they are, and he leaves blankets out for two robots on principle even though he doubts they feel the cold.

"But it's different to see it like this," Ren murmurs, his bright smile wide enough to show his fangs.

"Mm-hm! I don't have to filter it, I don't have to squint through all the haze. That makes it so much better, somehow."

"We can probably see far more than they can."

Clear laughs, flaps up to lean against Ren and point. "How many stars are in Pegasus' belly--that's how Grandfather would test me!"

Something warm hits Mink's back, as they begin to count, and he stiffens. Almost whips around in alarm before a soft voice murmurs, "It's me."

"Mm." Sei. He's already wrapped up, and seems to just be faceplanting into Mink's back. Mink sidesteps, carefully, steadies him, and Sei blinks up with a careless smile. Those still don't reach his eyes, but they're closer than they were three months ago, and he looks up for a moment, then puts his face in Mink's bicep. "Are you tired?"

"Not really. It's just too big to look at all at once." Sei snuck a thin, cold hand out of his blanket to tug at Mink's sleeve. "Sit with us."

Mink bites back the instinct to protest, waits for Koujaku's hackles to come up, or somebody else's. They don't, though the silence is thick. He sits, cautious, and Sei slips into his personal space almost before he realizes it. Finds a blanket, tents it around them both, and starts--playing with his hair, honest to god. Mink sighs, a little on edge. "You've grown bolder."

"Does that bother you?"

"Hn. It’s good."

Sei laughs, very faintly. "That wasn't a no, you know." He lets out a slow breath, takes another peek at the sky. "You have trouble accepting good things. That's what Brother told me."

Manipulative shits, both of them. The thought is not unfond. He weighs a few answers in his mouth before even attempting to engage with that, considers asking Sei not to touch the medicine wheel in his hair--but no, there was no denying how all of them had woven into his path, was there? Not after this. His narrow, perfectly-manicured finger tracing knotted cord. "You understand why."

He doesn't bother to make it a question. Not to Sei, who had never seen the open sky with his own eyes until three months ago, never mind the stars, and who drinks it in sips.

Clear lands against his other side with a flump of white coat, startling him almost more than Sei had. "Thank you, Mink-san."

"I did nothing."

"You let us stay here, and that was very kind! And..." Clear pauses, as if considering his next words. "You did not show us this sky, but you keep it."

Mink weighs that, too, and shrugs, but that hardly dislodges Clear. He settles in, surprisingly warm for an artificial being, and hands his umbrella to Sei, which startles a laugh out of him. Ren flops on Clear's other side, annexes Aoba and herds Koujaku in like a sheepdog, and Noiz rolls after, quite literally, until Clear pulls him into his lap, and then they're all piled up.

"At least you lot will keep warmer this way," Mink mutters, noncommittal, and offers Sei an arm around his shoulders. Not quite touching, letting him close the distance, but he closes it without hesitation and piles the rest of the way into his lap.

"Wait, wait," Noiz says suddenly. "Everybody shut up for a moment."

"What--"

"Hey, what is it?"

"Just shut it--"

Somehow, eventually, they all peter out, like a very old diesel engine grinding to a halt, and silence falls. Deep, deep silence. Mink closes his eyes for a moment, breathes, hears six other people stirring in surprise in the darkness.

No such thing as true silence on Midorijima either.

" _How_ ," Aoba whispers eventually, breaking it. "How is a place _this big_ so quiet...ahhh, I can't, it's too amazing..."

The conversation picks back up, quick, inevitable, but far quieter, whispers, like they need to keep reminding themselves that they _could_ , if they wanted, for the first time in their lives, hear nothing. Almost nothing. Mink, accustomed, hears the slow breeze in the trees. Night birds and coyote laughter, very faint and far away.

Sei slowly cants his head back, pillowed on Mink's shoulder and looking up.

"They won't fall," Mink tells him, very quietly.

Sei raises Clear's folded umbrella, as if to poke the sky and make sure they all stay put, and after a long, long silence, says, "I'm glad I'm here."


End file.
